Blogging

Articles about blogs, blogging, WordPress and the general subject of putting info up on the web.

My Blog, My Birthday and The End – Exercise #31

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We have finally arrived and the end – day 31. When I started this exercise I had no idea that I would get as tired of it as I have. Not tired of the writing itself, I still really enjoy that, but tired of the topics for the A Caboose at the Endexercises. Yup, totally my fault for not looking a little further down the line in terms of what would be asked – but it did force me to stretch a bit.

Well the exercise for today (is this the final exam?) is to tell you why I blog. Why does all this exist at all? In fact though, I have alluded to that answer more that once as the weeks wound on. My blog, this site, as it stands now is a way for me to flex my writing muscles while at the same time imparting some useful information occasionally. Not much of that useful stuff has happened over the past month, but then again nobody is perfect. If you do want one of my more useful posts recently, go back and read the one about professionalism – and then go fill in your Gravatar information! That is still driving me nuts.

Anyway … Long ago the purpose of this site was purely computer professional in nature. It is where I would write articles on things going on within the computer field, such as virus outbreaks or Microsoft Outlook email problems, or on the elements of web design, running a small office, or even book reviews.  What the site has morphed into over time is just more of my writing on whatever I want. All my more “technical” writing is over on other sites and blogs, so while there may be pointers to it here, there is no reason to repeat it all. I do still have my other sites, Michaels Trains, Charleston Rail, and Just British, for some of my other interests, but those are hobby sites and not updated anywhere near as often.

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In My Makeup Bag, What? – Exercise #30

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This is going to be a real short one and an easy one. The task for exercise number thirty out of thirty-one is “What’s in your makeup bag?” Well guess what? I am male! Southern male at that. Smelly Southern male. I have no makeup bag.

I'm too sexy for this blogWhen I go on trips I take my toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb and maybe a razor. Soap and shampoo and all that stuff? Well I rely on the hotel that gets my money (at discounted rate) to provide soap. And again, being a male, I will just use the hotel soap to shampoo what is left of my hair, be the lubricant for my shaving, and clean all other portions of my body. No need to haul lots of stuff around.

On a daily basis, in the man-bag I carry, there is nothing that would be associated with a make-up bag. Sometimes, not all the time but sometimes, there is a comb in there. Various headache remedies are in there, but do those qualify as make-up bag fodder? No idea, but that is about as close as it comes.

Do men even have the real equivalent of a makeup bag? I am sure some do – I have had more than a couple of friends who hauled around all sorts of shampoos, skin care products, and even coverups and tinting products. But on the overall that probably is the exception and not the rule. I would love to hear about it if I am wrong about this!

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Looking Forward to the Future – Exercise #28

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Back home in South Carolina! Yup, completed the five hour drive back from Atlanta, and now we are settled back in after being gone for about 4 and a half days. Loved the model train convention, love traveling, but it is good to be home. I will be content to be here for at least a day or two before I get wanderlust again. But not traveling for the foreseeable future. Next scheduled trip isn’t until September I believe.

Now, as for today’s assignment, I am asked to tell you about what I am looking forward to. Does “looking forward to” have to mean that I am excited? That I am happy about what is coming? I looked it up online, and one definition of the phrases says, “to wait or hope for, especially with pleasure.” Screw that “with pleasure” part. The thing is, in just a few more days I shall reach… fifty. Yes, it will be my birthday and I will be clawing my way over the half-century divide. Sigh. I must admit that I am having a bit of trouble with this milestone. I keep reflecting on how old I am, all the things I wanted to do, all the things I haven’t gotten done, and that sort of thing. I know it is self inflicted misery, but still.

I suppose it is natural for us all to take stock at some point – an inventory of the past and the future. And it would be equally natural for most of us to be unsatisfied with where we are or what we have done. Seems many people do that when they hit forty. But forty really didn’t hit me that hard. OK, I had a bit of a mid-life crisis if you include that buying of the Harley Davidson, but that was quickly taken care of by a few trips to the hospital. No, fifty is bugging me for some reason. Mid-life is one thing, but old is something else entirely. I keep having visions of myself as Milton Waddams from “Office Space”. This is not a good thing.

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